It's time for another What Vegans Eat post. In this series, I share my breakfast, lunch, and dinner from one ordinary day.
It seems like overnight we've fallen into winter coat weather. The wind is howling, orange and yellow leaves are littering the ground, and I'm back to drinking hot chamomile tea before bed. When mealtime arrives, I find myself looking for foods that will keep me warm and cozy.
Breakfast
For breakfast, I made a vegan tofu scramble, but with spinach instead of my usual kale. While making the scramble, I air fried a couple of frozen hash brown patties – one for me and one for David. Then I rolled the scramble into tortillas, and toasted the burritos in the air fryer as well.
Burritos get nice and crispy in the air fryer. I usually air fry them for 6 to 10 minutes at 400 degrees, stopping once to flip. I served them with guacamole and salsa.
Lunch
For lunch, I wanted to use the pumpkin-shaped pasta I had in the cupboard. I thought it would be festive for Halloween.
Of course, whenever mac and cheese is involved, my Ethiopian-spiced favorite from Teff Love is a must.
It was delicious as always, but as you can tell, it was not the best way to use this pasta! Haha! You can't decipher the pumpkin shape at all.
Since I had the oven going anyway for the cashew-based mac and cheese, I also roasted broccoli to go alongside it.
Dinner
For dinner, we had one of our "three flavors" meals. Basically, you pick any three side dishes, put them on a plate, and voilà, you have a meal.
We got the idea from Hugo's, a restaurant in Southern California, many years ago. They have a create-a-plate entrée, where you can just pick from the sides menu. That was David's standard order.
For this night's "three flavors," we had sautéed spinach, Brussels sprouts, and an air fryer baked potato. I sliced the Brussels sprouts thin and browned them in a pan, the same way that I cook them in my polenta breakfast.
The air fryer cooks a jacket potato beautifully - with a perfectly crisp peel and pillowy interior. I filled it with a dollop of cashew cheese, non-dairy butter, salt, and pepper.
To see more of my everyday vegan eats, check out this post from last month, or my round-up of a year of easy vegan meals.
Sara
Is this how much you actually eat? It doesn’t seem like a lot! Where was your protein for dinner? Do these portions actually reflect what you ate? Sometimes bloggers confess to photographing more or less food than they eat for this type of post so it looks good in the picture.
I am sure you are eating well — but you don’t want young girls getting confused about the amounts they should be eating. I remember googling, “what I eat in a day,” to see what others were eating and feel adequate if it matched up, or guilty if it didn’t. Continue being the strong role model you are!
P.S. I really enjoy yout blog and vegan recipes. I’m thinking of making the switch.
Also, there is something wrong with this comment box. Everything I type appears twice in a mind-boggling technical isue. I apologize for any typing errors that may be the result of this isse.
Cadry
Hi, Sara! This is actually how much I eat in a day. It’s interesting to hear you say that it seems like I didn’t eat a lot, because I’ve received other comments on these posts that I eat a lot. It goes to show you that we all have different needs, depending on our height, weight, activity level, age, gender, and more.
With a burrito, hash brown patty, mac and cheese, plus baked potato, I wouldn’t think that I’m giving the impression that people should get by on meager amounts. You’ll have to trust me that I’m not wasting away. Haha! But seriously, as a woman in my forties, I have different dietary needs than someone else who is a growing child.
Regarding the protein in my dinner, my needs for a day are 46 to 52 grams. For dinner, I had 17 grams of protein, which happens to work out perfectly to a third of 52 grams. A large baked potato has 7 grams of protein. The cashew cheese I put on top has 4 grams. A cup of Brussels sprouts has 3 grams, and a half cup of cooked spinach has 3 grams.
But what I hope to get across in these posts is that people don’t have to worry about each meal being “perfect.” In real life, that’s not going to happen. There are some days where we just have toast for breakfast, and that’s okay.
There was a time when the popular mindset was that people had to combine foods at meals to get a complete protein, and we know now that isn’t true. As long as over the course of a day a person gets enough calories/nutrients, they’re fine.
For many people, protein is a big concern, but that’s largely overblown. The diseases/issues we have in our culture are of excess, not deficiency. (That’s why we don’t see Kwashiorkor wards in hospitals, but we do see wards for heart disease. Kwashiorkor is severe protein deficiency, and it’s something that most of us never hear about. But high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and Type 2 diabetes are things that people struggle with.)
So what I’d hope that people would come away with from these posts is that as long as a person is eating a varied diet and meeting their own personal caloric needs, they don’t have to be so careful about every individual meal. In our lives, no one is going to be perfect, and that’s not a requirement.
Best of luck on going vegan, and if there’s anyway I can help, don’t hesitate to reach out! I’m sorry to hear that the comment box was problematic. I’ve tried a few fixes, but clearly, that’s not working. I’ll see what I can do about that tomorrow.
Shel
Cad, I’ve never thought of toasting a burrito in the airfryer. I love that idea. Did it affect the contents of the burrito at all?
Cadry
Well, it gets them a little warmer, but that’s all. A lot of times, we’ll warm burritos in the air fryer with toppings straight out of the refrigerator. If the ingredients are cold, they’ll need a little more time in the air fryer. So if I’m pulling out leftover tofu scramble, for example, then I usually lean towards 10 minutes on air frying time.
Jennifer Bliss
YUP! I want this RIGHT NOW!
Cadry
Excellent! I’m glad to have you back, Jennifer. I hope you’re well!
Susan
It all looks so cozy and comforting.
Cadry
Thanks, Susan! That’s definitely my state of mind now that there’s a chill in the air again.
simon macdonald
Hi Cadry, I notice that you use an Air Fryer sometimes and am thinking about buying one. Can you convince me that this is a worthwhile kitchen appliance to have ?, as I am just not too sure. Regards Simon.
Cadry
That’s a good question, Simon! I wrote a post all about the pro’s and con’s of an air fryer. It should answer all of your questions: https://cadryskitchen.com/2017/02/09/air-fryer/
simon
After reading the post about the pro’s & con’s of an Air Fryer and just looking at that baked Potato and crispy Burrito, I might just be tempted to get one !, thanks.
Cadry
That’s great, Simon! I hope you love yours as much as I love mine. I use it all the time!